Numbers 21
1And when king Arad the Canaanite, who dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the road to Atharim; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.
2And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
3And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
4And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Sea of Reeds, to go around the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was greatly discouraged because of the way.
5And the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loathes this worthless bread.
6And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died.
7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against you; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8And the LORD said unto Moses,
Make you a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live.
9And Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of bronze, he lived.
10And the children of Israel set out, and encamped in Oboth.
11And they journeyed from Oboth, and encamped at Iye Abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, toward the sun rising.
12From there they moved, and encamped in the valley of Zared.
13From there they moved, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
14Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
15And at the stream of the brooks that goes down to the dwelling of Ar, and lies upon the border of Moab.
16And from there they went to Beer: that is the well of which the LORD spoke unto Moses,
Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
17Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing you unto it:
18The princes dug the well, the nobles of the people dug it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah:
19And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:
20And from Bamoth in the valley that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks toward the wasteland.
21And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22Let me pass through your land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's highway, until we are past your borders.
23And Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
24And Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified.
25And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.
26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.
27Therefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and established:
28For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it has consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.
29Woe to you, Moab! you are undone, O people of Chemosh: he has given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.
30We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reaches unto Medeba.
31Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
32And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.
33And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.
34And the LORD said unto Moses,
Fear him not: for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people, and his land; and you shall do to him as
you did unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.
35So they struck him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left of him alive: and they possessed his land.
Commentaries for Numbers 21:0